Shidabhuti captures the Distaff in her 2024 debut (Chelsea Durand)
By Lynne Snierson – NYRA Press Office
OZONE PARK, N.Y.— Peter Brant’s Shidabhuti came off the bench and rallied to upset a quality but compact field of older filly and mare sprinters and score her first graded stakes victory in Saturday’s 70th running of the Grade 3, $175,000 Distaff, at Aqueduct Racetrack.
The 4-year-old daughter of Practical Joke out of the Candy Ride mare A. P. Candy, who was dispatched at 8-1 in the field of five, was the beneficiary of a sensational ride by Dylan Davis, the leading rider at the recently concluded Aqueduct winter meet, who picked up his third win of the day.
Shidabhuti, who is trained by four-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown and had been idle since finishing ninth in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks in July, also benefited from a turnback in distance to seven furlongs in the Distaff.
Shidabhuti, the winner of the Busher here 13 months ago, tracked the early pace set by heavy favorite Hot Fudge and Fingal’s Cave through honest fractions of 23.57 seconds, 47.50, and 1:11.46 over the fast main track. She made her move around the turn as Davis angled her wide into upper stretch. From there, she rallied through the lane, closed powerfully inside the sixteenth pole, and got her nose in front nearing the wire to prevail by a half-length over the Eric Cancel-piloted Ain’t Broke in the final time of 1:23.86.
Fingal’s Cave was another 2 3/4 lengths behind in third. Apple Picker and Hot Fudge rounded out the order of finish. Royal Poppy was scratched.
“She ran great. She had a bit of a duel in front of her which really helped her late run there,” Brown said. “I was really proud of the horse off the layoff. I thought maybe she needed a race and we could get a nice piece of this and move forward off of it, but as the duel developed it became clear she had a chance to win. It was a good set up for her and she ran great. My team did a great job with her.”
Davis, who is now undefeated on Shidabhuti in three races, concurred with Brown that the filly “ran great” after they broke from the outermost post 5.
“They definitely got her ready today. I know the rail has been good, I just wanted to save as much ground as possible,” Davis said. “I saw those two horses go to it, I could’ve stayed in the three-wide spot and gave her clear air, opted to come inside in between them, she switched off. I had an early presser there, Eric, into the turn which was great, because it kind of softened those leaders up. Once he kept pressing, I was able to take her outside and then I had a great kick turning for home.”
Hot Fudge, one of two entries from trainer Linda Rice along with Ain’t Broke, saw her five-race win streak and three-stakes score streak broken as the Liam’s Map dark bay came up empty under Kendrick Carmouche and finished last in the field of five.
Cancel said Ain’t Broke put in a valiant effort in seeking her first stakes victory before coming up short.
“She ran a very good race. That filly always tries 120 percent. I’m really happy with her performance. I wish I could have gotten the win, but I have to be happy with a second. She’s a very talented filly. Very straightforward. I don’t think she’ll have any problem running [in future graded stakes] and improving,” said Cancel.
Bred in Kentucky by Gabriel Duignan and Gerry Dilger, Shidabhuti improved her record to 7-4-1-1 and upped her bankroll to $339,350 with the $96,250 winner’s share of the purse. She returned $19 for a $2 win bet.
Brown said that he may point Shidabhuti to one-turn races this year with an eye towards the one-turn mile Grade 2, $200,000 Ruffian on May 4 at the Belmont at the Big A.
“It certainly looks that way. We’ll try to keep her between seven [furlongs] and a mile. The Ruffian could be a good call,” he said.
With their three victories together in three races, Davis said he would be thrilled to get the return call.
“It definitely means a lot to get a few rides into a horse that you’ve been riding, so you get to know them,” Davis said. “She’s more of an in-the-bridle kind of horse and she responds well, not too much sticking. She’s a great responder as long as you get her into stride and she gets into a comfortable rhythm, you know that she is going to come with a big run.”
Live racing resumes Sunday at Aqueduct with an eight-race card. First post is 1:20 p.m. Eastern.
